Phosphor materials



May 17, 1949. H. w. LEvERENz 2,470,173

' PHosPHoR MATERIALS Filed Oct. 17, 1945 fyi filly? 66g, .Mn

2k Ik l INVENTOR.

HTTRMEY vPatented May 17, 1949 PHOSPHOR MATERIALS 1 "hliumboldtfwrlzeverenz, PrincetonliN ato;".Radim4 orporatiipnv of Americana `corpinfaltion This inventionrelates.totphosphorrmaterialsdn r composite-.fstructures@ capable` offaelicient excitationeby energieseof-:dierentecharacter.

:'.Infcertain-.usesitfis desirablerto exctelumines- .mentaascreensboth by corpuscular energy: (alpha fnnclirarged fparticles) and .undulatory energy ...(lgamma-rays,#Xerayspultra-violet;.lightiainrravred etc-f; sfAslcne examplesrinstrumentalighting;:may bexcltednwhere.excitationofrthe phosphor in the instrument dials is primarily obtained by ultraviolet light froirrzalrlampgrsuchiasthe RP12, with yr.adium.excitation as astand-.by sourcesot excitation" in case offa'ilure of the lamp.

The eiiciency of luminescent materials is uoften quite diierent'innderv'-actionffof'they-two kinds ofr energy only to atoms or other physical parts which have allowed electronic transitions of the same magnitude as the exciting quanta.

A quantum of ultra-violet passes through a luminescent material with substantially undiminished energy until it reaches an atomic or I molecular spot capable of taking up that entire quantum. Corpuscular radiations, however, exhibit much less discrimination, giving up their energies a fraction at a time to various atoms, ions and other parts of the material passed through. A fast-moving alpha particle passes into a Ina-f terial and successively loses fractions of its energy of the order of 30 electron volts indiscriminately to almost any spots in its path capable of absorbing any part of its energy total.

There are many materials, therefore, that eiiiciently uoresce under ultra-violet or undulatory excitations in general, because the exciting energy is imparted only where it is most eiective, that is, in the active centers of luminescence. On the other hand, fewer materials are elicient under corpuscular excitations because the indiscriminately translated energy must be transferred to the luminescent centers. O-nly crystalline materials are eilicient in thus trans- 2 Iferringftheenergyuromone part-offtheamaterial `to anotheryfsince vhcrystals minimize^`theattenua ition'sz-fand "heat losses"sucl'r'as-occurlduringfenergy :transierf in4 amorphous'for glassy's'tructures.

' Wherever "it isfldesiredto 'use --both "undulatory 'energy*f'and "'corpuscular e'lenergyy-'f such '-aswboth eultra-violet and alphaeparticlesffor example, @as iir1f-a:i'rcraft instrument "lighting," l two YAdiierent fphosphorA materialsrare -foftenfrequired f-oramost sicient 'results; 1one 'for ftheiormervand= another hforifthe latter-`` typew'otrexcitation.

It-@s `*therefore an `object of the f `inventien-:to eprovide ya .luminescent Yscreenfor -dual excitation Yhaving kone"phosphor-materialfon efcient-rexcitm tion: 'by' ccrpuscularenergy'and' 'another material ifor"eicientf'excitationby undulatoryenergy. `TyAnother Y'objecttysto, provide-a-stratiied 'i luminascent screen for "ei-'dual' excitation Vhaving one phosphor materiali'for efficient `excitatiorrfby'corpuscularenergyand-another material for eficient excitation by undulatory energy.

Another object is to provide a luminescent screen for dual excitation having a layer of manganese-activated magnesium orthogermanate for excitation by alpha particles and another layer of manganese-activated germanate of greater magnesium oxide content than ortho proportions for excitation by ultra-violet.

Other objects will appear in the following description, reference being had to the drawings, in which:

Fig, l is a fragmentary view of a composite luminescent screen of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of another form of composite luminescent screen.

I have found that substantially ortho magnesium germanate MgzGeOrzMn is very efficient for corpuscular energy, especially alpha particles, while a magnesium germanate of greater magnesium-oxide content than ortho proportions, e. g., MgrGeOszMn, is most eflicient for undulatory energy, such as ultra-violet. In both germanates, red light is emitted, which is most suitable for night uses, as red does not reduce the efficiency of the dark-adapted eye to discern dim objects. Both germanates give white light reection in white light of daytime. In both germanate phosphors an elicient activator is manganese of known molar proportions, such as 0.001 to 0.2 mole of manganese per mole of magnesium germanate. In such cas, the underlying bulk I in Fig. 1 of the luminescent screen comprises magnesium ortho germanate phosphor MgzGeOuMn and the thin surface layer 2 comprises a germanate phos- The thicknesses of the layers are somewhatv lying layer or layers, one form of which is shown in Fig. 1 and another in Fig. 2. In Fig. 1 the layer orlayers 2 should be thin enough to allow a major part of the luminescence from layer or layers l to reach the eye at 3. In Fig. 2 the layer 4 should be thin enough to allow a major part of the lumineszence from layer or layers 5 to reach the eye at Various modifications of the improvement may be made without departing from the spirit of the y invention.

complex functions of particle sizeof the phosphor l constituents, the penetrating powerof the excit' ing radiations, the relative scattering and absorbing characteristics of the different phosphormaf,

terials and the practical considerations requiring enhancement of the luminescence from one type of radiation as compared with that from another type of radiation. In general, the thickness of the luminescent layer exposed to excitation of undulatory nature should be of the order of one to ten particles thick. The thickness of the other luminescent layer or layers may be adjusted to the type and quality of corpuscular radiation in `manners well known in the art. For example, the lthickness of a 4corpuscular-excited layer should not greatly exceed the penetrating power of the corpuscular radiator, except Where large crystals are used, in which case approximately asingle layer of crystals is optimum for excitation by corpuscular rays extraneous to the screen, While for layers excited by corpuscular excitations emahating from within the screen (such as radiumsalt excitation), the thickness is usually from .01 mm. to 1 mm. The thickness of the layers must be chosen to allow the observer to see the luminescence not only of the layer nearest the eye 3, but also the luminescence of the undern f1. A composite phosphor screen comprisin a "layer of magnesium orthogermanate and mn- Having described my invention, what I clairri is:

ganese activator for excitation by corpuscular energy and a second layer of magnesium gerparent to the light emitted by the other layer.

HUMBOLDT W. LEVERENZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name f Date Leverenz Dec. 29, 1936 Number 

